repercussion on the age of the enlightenment: Jovellanos’ Iphigenia

3.5.1 TRUSTWORTHINESS AND SOUNDNESS ... 67

3.5.2 REFLEXIVITY AND RESEARCH QUALITY ... 71

3.6 ‘ONE’ WORKING DEFINITION OF PROFESSIONALISM ... 73 3.7 STUDY DESIGN AND APPROACHES ... 73 3.8 METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH ... 74 3.9 VARIETIES OF DISCOURSE ANALYSIS ... 75

3.9.1 SOCIO LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS ... 76

3.9.2 CRITICAL LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS ... 77

3.9.3 CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS ... 77 3.9.4 INTERPRETIVE STRUCTURALISM ... 78 3.10 DISCOURSE ANALYSIS APPROACH ADOPTED ... 79

3.11 INTERPRETATIVE REPERTOIRES ... 81

3.12MEMETIC THEORY ... 82

3.13 CONCLUSION ... 84 3.14 METHODS AND CHRONOLOGY... 85

3.15 SELECTING AND RECRUITING PATICIPANTS... 85

3.15.1 CONVENIENCE SAMPLE ... 85

3.15.2 STUDY PARTICIPANTS ... 87 3.16 POSSIBLE LIMITATIONS OF SAMPLE ... 90 3.17 DATA COLLECTION ... 92 3.17.1 DOCUMENTARY ARCHIVE ... 92

3.17.2 AUDIO DATA:INTERVIEWS ... 92

3.18 INTERVIEWS ... 94

3.18.1‘UNNATURAL’ DATA? ... 94 3.18.2 ACTIVE INTERVIEWING ... 96 3.18.3 INFLUENCES OF THE RESEARCHER ON THE RESEARCHED ... 97

3.18.4 INTERVIEWER AND INTERVIEWER RELATIONSHIPS ... 97

3.19 A REFLECTIVE PILOT INTERVIEW WITH ‘KIM’... 99

3.20 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND ETHICAL APPROVAL ... 101 3.21 RESEARCH DESIGN AND TIMESCALE ... 103 3.22 DATA ANALYSIS ... 103

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3.22.1 RECORDING AND TRANSCRIBING INTERVIEWS ... 104

3.23 ANALYSIS OF TALK ... 105 3.23.1 ANALYSIS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERVIEW GUIDES ... 108

3.24 AVOIDING ANALYSIS PITFALLS... 109

3.24.1THE ISSUE OF UNDER-ANALYSIS ... 109

3.24.2THE ISSUE OF UNJUSTIFIED CLAIMS ... 110 3.25 AN EXPLORATION:‘MY’ANALYSIS PROCESSES ... 110 3.25.1 SEARCHING FOR LINGUISTIC AND RHETORICAL FEATURES ... 111 3.26 DATA MANAGEMENT ... 118

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A glossary of terms used in this chapter

Different traditions of narrative analysis have their own terminology which can be quite confusing (Rapley 2007). This glossary provides my understanding and adoption of terminology used in this chapter to provide some clarity.

Term Adopted useage

Talk I prefer to w ‘ ’ y

language. Literature on narrative analysis uses a number of terms, such as utterances, discourses, language, text . I b w ‘ ’.

Discourse Analysis (DA)

I view this as a generic term for any analysis of talk. DA relates to many different forms of discourses analysis. My choice of methodology is DASP (defined below).

Discourse and Social Psychology (DASP)

A methodological approach to enable the study of language from a social psychological stance. It is based on the assumption that interaction between people involves language. The work of Potter and Wetherell (2013) and Wood and Kroger (2000) have informed my considerations for DASP.

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)

Interpretative repertoires are helpful in locating agency in talk. I have called upon a Foucauldian approach to CDA as a form of critical lens and theoretical approach to assist with the analysis of aspects of talk showing elements of agency.

Interpretative Repertoires (IR)

I draw on Potter and Wetherell (2013) work on IR to inform my writing. I use this approach to draw attention to terms used by participants that characterise and evaluate their actions. The use of metaphor in talk is helpful for locating regular terms used by groups.

Memes I D w (1976) ’ (1999)

definitions of memes as that being similar to genetic information replicated from one generation to the next. Memes replicate cultural and social material from one person to another through imitation and arise in the minds and talk of people.

Ideological Dilemmas (ID)

IDs y ’ ‘ ’ g IR y . IDs are beliefs, values and practices that may be

inconsistent and contradictory but give insight into a way of life. I draw on the work of Billig et al.(1988), and Edley (2003).

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3.1

I

The research presented in this thesis aims to make explicit the discourses and perceptions at play in the language on professionalism used by student nurses and lecturers. In the following chapter I discuss my search for an appropriate methodology to meet the research aims and objectives, and I present some of the factors influencing my decisions.

3.2

P

The way the world is viewed and understood will have an impact on the research aims and the methods used to meet them. The following subsection describes the two main research paradigms and illustrates the rationale behind the location of the present research. In the second subsection, I introduce the issue of quality in research, discussing the influence of different paradigm concerns.

3.2.1 PARADIGMS

A paradigm can be defined as a world view, influenced by questions about the nature of reality (ontology) and the relationship between the researcher and what is being research (epistemology) (Polit and Beck 2012). These theoretical perspectives can be viewed as lying along a continuum, which tends to be polarised between positivist and interpretivist perspectives.

Positivism is based on an objectivist or realist ontology, which maintains that universal truths exist independent of human observation. From a methodological perspective, the scientific approach means orderly procedures and tight controls of the research situation. Personal beliefs and biases are minimised to prevent contamination of the phenomena under investigation (Polit and Beck 2012).

Within the literature review, it became clear that a number of studies supported the positivist paradigm (for example Akhtar Akhtar-Danesh et al., 2013; Hall, 1968, 1985; Miller, 1988, 1993; Wynd, 2003, Hisar 2010), all employing quantitative methodology to objectively investigate professionalism, through

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surveys and inventories of professional behaviours. Qualitative research, primarily through the thematic analysis of interviews, were also present within the literature reviewed, albeit to a lesser extent. However, these tended to be associated with more contemporary research articles. Therefore, the objective measurement of professional attributes in healthcare appears to have been driven historically by realist ontology, aiming for generalisation of findings (Polit and Back 2012).

Interpretivist approaches are founded on some variation of a constructionist/vist epistemology (Crotty 1998). This is viewed as meaning being constructed rather than discovered. From a relativist ontological perspective, constructionism views reality as existing in multiple forms. In other words, it is not fixed but constructed by ’ (Gergen 2015, Polit and Beck 2012). In epistemological terms, meaning is constructed through experience, engagement and interpretation with the world (Crotty 1998). Research based within the interpretivist paradigm aims to access and understand multiple realities and is sought through the exploration of human experiences using qualitative methods (Crotty 1998, Silverman 2010).

3.2.2 CONSTRUCTIONISM

Traditional psychological assumptions stress that language is a neutral transport medium between social actors and the world (Gergen 2015). This means that language can only be taken at face value. From an ontological perspective, the constructionist viewpoint is in direct opposition to the assumptions of positivism/realism, where the world is known through theories within a deterministic universe (Blaikie 2007). Social constructionism is a theory of knowledge within sociology that examines the development of a jointly constructed world based on the shared assumptions about realities (Leeds- Hurwitz, 2009). For the constructionist, language is therefore ontologically y g ‘ ’ cultural, and social context, making it only possible to ‘ w’ g representations of the world (Ashworth 2008).

In epistemology terms, social constructionism advocates that truths are created through social interactions and that there is no single reality to uncover (Wetherell

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et al. 2009). As a consequence, any findings can only be partial and situated, meaning they apply to student nurses and lecturers, within a university setting or in relation to a period of time, relative to my world view and value systems (Taylor 2003). What is real and what is true is created by individuals through human activities and, therefore, reality is a collective, social product, with language at the centre to this process (Wetherell 2009, Gergen 2015). From the constructionist stance, the researcher searches for meaning and significance in the language used by participants (Banister et al. 1994). Gergen (2015) defines this succinctly when he writes that:

‘nothing is real unless people agree that it is’. Gergen (2015 p4)

3.3

D

C

Richardson (1990), cited in Silverman (2000), notes that groups of people are united by their use of language and the way it is used to reach shared goals. Participants of a particular group will tend to use language that is understood by others from the same cultural group (Richardson 1990 cited in Silverman 2000). These groups are refered to as discourse communities (Swales 1990). Nursing can be viewed as a particular ‘ y’ w w ‘ ’ constructed.

Porter (1992) defines the discourse community as one with a defined body of texts or practices that are joined by a common focus. Within a discourse community there are unstated conventions, history, hierarchies and vested interests, and ways of wielding power (Potter 1993). Swales (1990) defines the particular characteristics of a discourse community as having a broadly agreed set of goals, defined ways for communicating with one another, mechanisms for providing and sharing information and for feedback, some language owned by the group, and having a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content. Therefore, student nurses may form one discourse community, but they may also be members of other discourse groups, such as that of university students. Lecturers occupy a discourse group as registered nurses and as university lecturers, and possibly many more related to personal lives. Most

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people will move between many different discourse communities every day (Swales 1990).

To become a member of a discourse community one needs to learn not only the language, but also the concepts and expectations of that community (Bizzell 1992). Bizzell (1992) notes that, generally, people join a discourse community through training or personal persuasion. Student nurses do not have the relevant experience within the discourse community to be considered as having discoursal expertise. Within a discourse community associated with a professional group, the language needs to be learned through socialisation (Bizzell 1992). To this end, student nurses are learning how the discourse community of nursing functions, which suggests that they are not ‘ ’ b it (Porter 1992).

Lave and Wenger (1991) use the term ‘ ’ to specifically define groups within which people learn. They argue that when people learn they are not only learning a particular skill, they are also learning how to become part of a group of people who do things together. Thus, discourse communities and communities of practice can be seen as overlapping and sharing some similarities. It is within this context that this study aims to capture the process of b g ‘ y’, by collecting student talk at progressing intervals of their nurse education programme.

3.4

A

My epistemological stance will have a bearing on the research process and on the methodological approach chosen for the study (Carter and Little 2007). Language is central to the constructionist view (Gergen 2015 and Wetherell 2009) and I accept that we jointly construct our world on shared assumptions (Leeds-Hurwitz, 2009 and Gergen 2015). Potter and Wetherell (1987) state that discourse is a social practice in itself with its own characteristics, which is in line with social constructionist thought. People do things with their language, and language does things to people by positioning them. As a consequence, language is seen as active, dynamic, and variable, rather than neutral and passive. For example, language is used to ask for things, to justify actions, to persuade, to accuse, to clarify, and so on. The meaning of language is dependent upon broader

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discursive systems within which it is embedded, such as the discourse communities within which talk is being used. Therefore, meaning is constructed through experiences with the realities of the world and the language used to express these (Crotty 1998). Discourse cannot be taken to mean an accurate description of the social action it refers to since, according to Gilbert and Mulkay (1984), any account of an experience represents a new version of reality.

To hear language on student nurse professionalism, analysis of their talk via Discourse Analysis (DA) was considered a fitting methodological approach. Only Monrouxe et al. (2011 and 2017) seems to have considered how medical student professionalism might be linguistically framed. Importantly, the value of examining linguistic practices can shape the way that professionalism is taught, assessed, practiced, and transmitted to others (Monrouxe et al. 2011).

The research in this thesis sought to make explicit the discourses and perceptions at play in the language on professionalism used by student nurses and their lecturers at university. Therefore, a Discourse Analysis (DA) methodology based on social constructionist assumptions was considered both congruent with the focus of the research aims, and also in keeping with the need to potentially redress the imbalance in methodological approach present within published research on student nurse professionalism.

A y ‘ ’ g. S w lecturers and I share conversations. Language is often overlooked because it is embedded in our everyday world (Gergen 2015), and therefore seldom problematised. As a vehicle to talk, DA was considered a suitable methodological approach for use in social contexts, e b g g ’ y y talk and how they are constructed through their talk. The aim of the study was to make explicit the discourses and perceptions at play in the language on professionalism used by student nurses and their lecturers.

The benefit of such an investigation was to appreciate the language associated with professionalism used by students and lecturers, so that communication might perpetuate professionalism to advance the core principles of nursing and enhance the student experience.

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